PIA Press Release2005/09/07

Joey Albert, the singer with a passion for public service

Davao City (7 September) -- She is the singer who continues to sing in concerts for the homeless in the Philippines.

To many, Joey Albert is just among our good singers, but in a press conference in Davao City she confessed she has a passion for public service.

Now a resident of Vancouver, Canada, Albert hops in the cities of Canada and Europe soliciting support for the Gawad Kalinga project where she is involved which is pioneered by the Couples for Christ in the Philippines

She said she was struck by the reward of helping people without decent homes to a community with a transformed residents from physical to spiritual well being.

A brave Albert who had a bout with the big C was open to discuss on what she had been through with her health problems saying it made her an inspiration to extend her hand to others.

"There is a different satisfaction when you could help others," she said.

She recalled that in her early days she got involved in "Bahay Kalinga" where they help people with complicated health problems.

"It was an opportunity for me to help other people and in a way is also helping you strengthen yourself," she said.

Albert while in Davao is scheduled to visit the Gawad Kalinga site in the city even as she wanted to visit the Highway of Peace in Mindanao set up somewhere in Cagayan de Oro, a mix community of Muslims and Christians.

She said her participation in the Gawad Kalinga is to advocate to people abroad for their support that could be of help to Filipinos needing a home to live with their family.

She looked at her involvement not only as a charity work but also in nation building.

The Gawad Kalinga communities, she said, are not only for economic transformation but the spiritual aspect as well.

Albert when she got married became a Canadian citizen but decided to regain her Filipino citizenship by signing up for a dual citizenship.

She said Philippines is her family and home.

"I have a responsibility as a citizen of this country and you've got only one chance and I want to help my fellow countrymen," she said.

She also described herself as the "Messenger of Hope" and as a mother to young kids she told the press that God gave her the opportunity to take care of her children as she cook, feed, bathe, dress and play with them in their home in Canada.

"I am happy that my kids will have a recollection that I had cared for them," she added. (PIA/pdbanzon) [top]